yanked from Foley

go figure.
I thought I was more libertarian than this, but the internet quiz is not to be questioned!

What political ideology do you have? Your Result: Democratic Socialist You are the standard European socialist who believes that the government should spend large amounts of money on social welfare programs. You also believe that these social welfare programs are mandated by the people who vote in your ideal democratic government
Anarchist
Libertarian
Communist
Authoritarian Capitalist
Fascist
What political ideology do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

My sarcasm meter is broken

I can't tell if this is supposed to be a joke.

"You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they?"

It hurts me!

(from Boingboing!)

jobs and careers

I wrote this up earlier and then google ate it. Apparently, they have bugginess when you try to go to blogger from your google home page. I experienced three crashes trying to do this, even after a restart?

Feh.

Second time around writing something up is never as fun.

As I get narrower on my career, and I find that things like "product manager," "product developer," and "project manager" interest me, I'm shifting into the "how to get there" phase more and more. Sometimes these titles seem to overlap, but all require experience, usually specific to their industry, which I lack. I'm an information gatherer and project coordinator, strategizer and problem-solver.

What about this job below as a stepping stone to a more engaging career? It doesn't ask for too much specific experience, and it might have good visibility since this person works with all departments (which I enjoy). The downside is that of course I wish I'd made this move 6 years ago, but I guess there's no time like the present to start over again at the bottom.

I know someone who works at this company, who would be very happy to help me if he can, and even has experience working with me in a project management sort of capacity, and believes in me.

In the meantime, I need to also talk with people who have these jobs I think might be the right career path for me, and ask them how they got there, what they really do, what they like and dislike, etc. Mainly, how can I get on the right track?

So, any hot tips on people I might talk to would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Job Title:
Activation Specialist I

Key responsibilities include:

• Reviews request mailbox, creates tracking cases in CRM system, folders email for review.
• Processes service moves for partners and partner customers.
• Gathers and organizes information from variety of sources.
• Quickly recognizes errors or unusual events and escalate via the proper channels.
• Trains company Partners on ordering process.
• Troubleshoots and resolve technical and business issues that might delay customer activation.
• Escalates urgent problems requiring more in-depth knowledge to appropriate internal resources.
• Works with multiple departments to gather information for project execution.
• Multitasking and peak performance under pressure.
• Attention to detail.
• Great interpersonal skills.
• Working as a team player.

Required skills:

• Requires a bachelor's degree and 2-4 years of experience in customer support.
• Must have great communication skills, efficient, responsible, professional, work in a team environment.
• Familiar with standard internet concepts within the email and IT world.
• Ability to learn quickly while paying close attention to detail.
• Works under general supervision.
• Salesforce experience a preferred.
• Understands project management concepts a plus.

Compensation:
compensation package consists of salary, equity and attractive benefits. Principals only. No relocation.

How to Apply:
Please email your resume to careers@blahblahblah.com.

I'm doing it for Science!

"The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects."

unintentionally funny websites

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Young & Active Deligent & Creative Reliable & Successful Rich & Comfortable Satisfied & Perfect Please just click on & on to be satisfied.

I'm supposed to want to buy fabric from these people?
Actually... they sound so... sweet! and sort of cute. Maybe I do want to buy fabric from them.


"please just click on & on to be satisfied!"

Decisions

I have always been stubborn.
Really. I am a vegetarian for, now, 17 years? Because I am stubborn. I was being a brat in class in 6th grade. I was saying the girl sitting next to me, her brand new leather boots stank, they were made of dead cows, something, I don't know what. I think they had fur bits on them, which must be what I was complaining about. Fur bits. Fur is bad. At 12, I did not wear fur. (duh)

My teacher asked me why I was being a pain about it. "Don't you eat hamburgers?"

"No."

And I never did eat a hamburger again.


Tomorrow (I was hoping to put this off over the weekend due to being out for dental work on the day it was due) I will be asked to sign, with a witness, a form saying that I consent to my company's new drug and alcohol testing policy, including that I consent to being randomly drug and alcohol tested (the policy says we should expect to be testing every two years)

I have been employed at this place for a little over 4 years. I have been Employee of the Month twice. I have been promoted twice. I arrive early, stay late, and usually am the one to set the alarm at night. I frequently work from home in the evening.

I am clearly a threat.

I had to think about this one. The policy is clear that you will be terminated for refusing. I kind of don't see that happening, at least not immediately, but I have to consider it a given anyway. I figure that most likely they will pressure me, realize I won't sign it, and then quietly try to figure out how long it will take to get caught up on how to do my job and replace me.

The reason for all of this is supposedly tied into some Homeland Security C-TPAT bullshit for importers. You know, the terrorists. They love their dress pants, they do. I know, it's for UHMURKA, I should not question it. Civil rights are for people who hate our freedom. Or something.

Here's the way I see it:
1.) I have a contract with my employer. I give them work, good work, and I give them time, and talents. In return, they give me money. End of story. I don't give them my whole life, my off hours, or my medical information. It's none of their goddam business, as long as I fulfill my half of the contract. And I do, I fulfill it well enough to be recognized, as noted above. If I go on a coke bender every night after work and show up every morning and do my job well, that's MY business.
2.) I do not drive a forklift, or control air traffic. I do not do surgery, or answer 911 calls. I sit in front of a computer and draw pants and tell China what to do and solve problems for our customers. Occasionally I explain computers or very simple scientific principles to my boss.
3.) Drug testing procedures are really icky and invasive. I'm totally disgusted that they even asked.
4.) They expect us to give them a list of every prescription and non-prescription drug we've taken in the past two weeks when we get randomly tested. Um, hello, complete invasion of privacy and potential for abuse? That's ok, it will be "confidential." Your name won't be attached, only your social security number. (How stupid are these people? I would rather give my name!)
5.) You just really cannot do drug testing in the fashion industry. Duh.
6.) I don't even like this job.

For the record, of course, no, nothing would come up but the advil I just took this afternoon (which is not working). But, again, I am stubborn. I have wondered, though, if this were a dream job, and they asked this, would I be able to be so stubborn?

Have you ever been asked to drug test for a job that didn't really need it? What did you do?

Borked

So, the other terribly exciting thing that happened on Easter was that I busted my toe. I kicked the treadmill in the Blue Room on accident while changing the sheets and my little toe got all hurty. I tried milking sympathy from Paul, but I think he thought I was exaggerating. Until we got home and I showed it to him, and it was all purple and swollen. Not just a general purple, it had a one-quarter inch, vector-based stripe of eggplant running up it. Two days later, the skin started to peel.

I never could get a decent photo of it, so this one is lost.

Besides limping for the past week and a half (and I see no sign that it is nearly done hurting), I also have this cracked molar deal. I did have a little luck with the dentist, and they've rearranged their schedule so they can do the work this Friday, rather than May 22nd. Yay! I really miss chewing on the left. I'm sure I will then promptly crack my right molars. Oh, the fun part? It costs upwards of a thousand bucks per tooth. Insurance might pay half of it. Maybe, we'll see. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate insurance companies?

The upside to this is that my tooth will be fixed before the Sheetiron, where I plan to do a lot of gritting my teeth. I got my number, alright, and it's #103! Damn, and I totally sent it the first day allowed. Of course Paul is #102, they always do that to me. One time I was #11. Feh. Well, truth be told, I did not have a good time last time at all. It really is just not the same without James. And the weather was the stink. Oh, yeah, and I am the stink. Feh.

Won't Someone Think of the Children?!?!!?

We went to hang out with Jennifer this weekend in Santa Cruz. She has all kinds of wonderfulness in her life right now.

Saturday we got travelers and headed for a walk in a lagoon that has a wooden plank walkway built through it. You stand in the middle of the lagoon with water and critters on either side. It is really beautiful. There were tons of ducks and grebes doing duck and grebe things, and some giant fish (carp?) and even a few out-of-place domestic ducks. They looked ridiculous, and immediately waddled over when I sat down, presumably because people have been feeding them. I held out my fingers, and they bit me a bunch. QUACK!

After a drink at a bar looking out at the wharf, we decided to go out to see sea lions. More cool birdies in the water below, and then some sea lions appeared in the water below us. Sexy beasts! Two of them got rather friendly, and then, OMG, totally had the sex in front of us! Jennifer had her camera, thankfully, so now you all get to enjoy this precious moment as well:






As they did this, another male approached and sort of kissed the male, and then the three of them sort of slithered around on each other. What kind of example is that?!?!? (well, at least they weren't like the gay mallards we have in SF)


Scandalized, we explored the rest of the wharf and then proceeded to the Boardwalk, where some kids were getting together for prom. Apparently, guys can wear platforms too now. Good for them, I guess. Now they can trip on nothing too. The Boardwalk still has all the cool old video games from way back, which we oo'ed and aaahhh'ed at, but did not play. Instead, we returned for dinner and giant margaritas. Much better than the organic beer we had at Saturn Cafe on Friday. That shit is nasty.

Sunday we got up extra-early so we could get back to Berkeley in time for naps-- on the grass, in the hammock, in the bed, with the cats-- it all had to be tried. We supplemented this with ice cream (mine: lemon and vanilla. Paul had a fudgesicle) to make for a very nice lazy day.

Easter Weekend

My dear sainted brother came for Easter, bringing his wife and ginormous baby for a flash visit.

Saturday morning I went to meet with Lionel and Jen, two of the most amazing and wonderful friends I have. They enjoyed some coffee and Bizmarkie at Coffee Society in Campbell, where I also ran into an old high school friend I had not seen since, well, high school.

Ben and Megan arrived around 5 or 6, and the family promptly launched into a chocolate and port (and then red wine, white wine, bourbon and goldschlager, but who's counting?) party. I brought some fancy-pants chocolates from Cocoabella to cut into a lot of tiny pieces so we could each try each flavor. Perhaps I am a bit compulsive, but it's my goddam chocolate!

Ben got really drunk and insisted there was something wrong with my keyboard. Whatever the problem is, seems to have righted itself!

Amazingly, we did not feel too bad in the morning. Paul got many photos of the local folk sunning themselves on rocks.







Family and friends started showing up, so I finally got dressed and proceeded into the beer. We ate all kinds of food, loafed and visited, and then finally had to go home.

The week was busy (work stuff) but otherwise uneventful. I ordered more memory so that my wee iBook might better run NeoOffice (need to install now, and I am skeered) and I became re-focused on my career change search. I had fallen off the wagon for a bit, probably a combination of busy and overwhelmed, and a little bit avoidance of something a bit worrisome. BUT, I am back on it now, and I think relatively close to deciding, more or less. That would be a nice first step.

Leo July 23 - August 22

If there's a drinkable liquid in the world that doesn't cause loss of motor function, impaired judgment, slurred speech, dehydration, and eventual unconsciousness, you don't want to know about it.

If you are this stupid, no one can help you.

A person on a motorcycle was killed this afternoon after colliding with an Amtrak train three miles east of the Richmond Amtrak station, an Amtrak spokeswoman reported today.

Let me guess, the train made a left turn in front of you?
"but officer, it came out of nowhere!"

Finally, instructions

First there was www.dontshakeyourbaby.com!
Now, this!

Yep, there's my neighbor again

This time, put away for good, supposedly.

I'm not a great proponent of the 3 Strikes law in general. But in this case, this is a guy who doesn't belong on the street.

Ouch! Real dental pain!

Apparently, getting my two molars fixed (one cracked definetely, one in progress) is going to cost $1025!!!!

Good thing I am not going on vacation this year. I guess.

The upside, I guess, is that if this is correct (and I won't really know until after I wrangle to insurance company) I should have enough FSA health dollars left to get my glasses? Maybe. Eye doctor is very expensive.

berkeley

Saturday night after the races, we were beat, so after Picante, we passed out early (well, I did, at least)

Sunday was beautiful so we went for walkies out to Cesar Chavez Park and Berkeley Marina?

There were a ton of birds everywhere, which was super cool.

This seagull and crane were in Aquatic Park:

















Out in the marina, there were tons of other birds. This is the view North into Richmond and Marin. This is as close as I choose to get to Marin*:














there were several varieties of duckies, including these rude ducks that mooned us, repeatedly:














Being Spring, there were also a lot of butterflies out, including this Tiger Swallowtail:















I found this sign:

















Paul seems to think this is how I feel about going for walkies. But LOOK:









It is all backwards!






We finally got to the end and found what we came for: the "gong" thingie that sounds every 13 seconds (or whatever). It was not picturesque, but it was on a breakwater, where we could not reach it. I presume it is there so no one goes and shuts it up.

then we headed over to the other side, and, this being Berkeley, we found lazy hippies flying kites. Except they weren't really doing anything, they just had these big kites staked in the ground, and I guess they just sit there and have a big lazy social scene around it. Which is fine and all, but it's kind of funny that they all had essentially the same kite. Who knew Berkeley was so conformist? Luckily, my shattered imaged was put back together when we saw a guy wearing some silly elf costume running around with bow and arrows in the bushes. I could not get a picture, sadly.















Lastly, I think it's important to point out the wonder of modern society: Dogi-Pot. I hope this speaks for itself:
















































* It is a well known fact that the reason we are connected to Marin by bridges is so that if we ever get too tired of their bullshit, we can just knock the bridge down, and BAM, it's like, no more Marin! Pretty soon you'll forget what they were even like, and no one will miss their whiney self-centered NIMBY faux-liberal bullshit. Awesome!

Brandon's in the Hole! (again)

Friday night we watched idiocracy, which was somewhat funny, somewhat depressing, occasionally witty, and oftentimes stupid.

Saturday morning I went to the dentist, who told me my molar was cracked, and he could probably fix it in a two weeks (but it turned out he can't do it until the end of May) and then I returned home so Paul and I could go to Carnegie to watch the Hillclimbs! Which were, like, totally awesome!

The whole experience can be summed up thusly:



















but, specifically:
-$15 per person just to watch is steep. Way too steep. I guess that's why we don't go every year. It takes an off year for me to forget how ripped-off I felt the previous year.
-it was sunny. And hot.
-There is a fence to keep the specatator area separate from the starting line area. I don't know why, becuase by the end of the day it was apparent that it wasn't to keep people out. Of course the racers were there with their machines and the guys putting gas (and other things) in, etc. But also a bunch of random children, a bunch of hoochies, some guys who were drinking beer, and, in the end, a pregnant lady?!? All at the start line.
-It was pretty funny listening to some teenage hottie-type (I mean she was average hot, not, like omigod hot) lecturing her boyfriend (who was racing) on "where the hell have you been?! I've been looking for you all day! I looked (here) and (THERE!) and I couldn't find you at all!" Seriously pissed off. He just looked at her with no answer, cuz, ummm, he was racing. Which, I imagine, is exactly where he said he would be?
-The open class champion is named Dusty Beer. There is a whole team called "Beer Racing." You can see "Beer Racing" on the rear fender of this bike:















And if you look closely, on the front of this bike:



















The Beer Clan seems to be large, but at this pit, you can see that two of them are pitting together: Jonn and Don:

















-I don't think I've ever seen someone who's own dog had no respect for him before. But I can't blame the dog.
-It was announced that a rattlesnake had been found at the start line, which they flung over into the tall grass on the other side of the wire fence. (It was a sizeable snake-- I saw it fly) At which point, a self-professed "rattlesnake hunter" jumped over the fence to, I guess, hunt it? In the tall grass where it had been flung. Wearing shorts and sandals. Genius! It turned out to be gopher snake or something. Which is a good thing, because apparently, if you get injured at this thing, you end up in the back of the "EXTREME SPORTS Medical" Ambulance, where, I assume, they administer Red Bull and blast Limp Bizkit while trying to remember which way to the hospital.
















-Sitting in the spectator area, you get hit with a ton of dirt clods. These bikes put out a LOT of horsepower. I mean, when you consider that these people are taking, like FJ1100 and GSXR1000 motors and powering up a VERY steep hill, in the dirt, just WFO. It's pretty insane. I would be afraid to do this in a level, paved place. I suspect there may be an inverse function of brains to skill in this sport.
-the kids are the cutest.
-This guy has a bitchin' custom tank:


















These photos do not do the hill justice at all. The hill is really, really really steep. And tall. These people are insane.

My Dental Plan

"Just chew on the other side of your mouth" is my new plan, as Paul has pointed out.

Bruxism + big metal fillings = cracked left rear molar.

I knew this needed to be done. I discussed it with my dentist in the Fall, opened a Flexible Savings Account for 2007 in December, and planned to schedule it at this Saturday's appointment. Only, at this Saturday's appointment, we disovered that the molar cracked. Which is good in that now the insurance company might actually pay for the work (they don't cover needed prevention, only the more expensive work needed after problems occur), but bad in that, I wanted to do this as prevention, not damage control. And more bad because it turns out my dentist isn't open to do this until the end of May.

So, two months of chewing only on the right. That's my dental plan.
Feh.
On the upside, that will be just after the Sheetiron, so I won't ruin my new porcelain gritting my teeth riding in the dirt?

Nerd

I just installed Quicksilver on my machine last night. I am just getting into it, but it appears to be teh bomb.


Really, TEH BOMB.

Once I clicked the right plug-in and watched it go, I actually called it "sexy."
I don't say that about a lot of software.

Mac-only, this seems to be a new necessity.

Yays!

Happy Birthday Parents!

My folks were born two days apart. March 24 and 26, some, uhhh, several years ago.

We decided to take them to a nice dinner, at a wonderful restaurant, so I made reservations at Amber, which is really nice, and the food is good, and all of that. Very parents'-birthday appropriate. Except that there is absolutely nothing appropriate about Santana Row.

We should have had plenty of time, but it took like 20 minutes to get to the strip mall (yes, San Jose, that is still a strip mall!) from the freeway, which is only like 3 blocks. It occured to me that this is what car people experience as the norm? I have no idea how they have the patience for it.
Once in the faux-urban strip mall, we spent another 30 minutes going up, and then down the two or three levels of the parking garage, not even to the top because I declared it bullshit, and proclaimed that there wouldn't be parking there either. Then "let's just valet the damned thing!"
But the valet was full.
Thankfully, we went in the Prius, so we felt quite smug that as we sat through stop and go traffic, we weren't burning gas. Smugness trumps all!

And then gave up on Amber.
Santana Row can rot to hell, for all I care. What a dump. I declare it Disneyland's bad vision of a city. I live in a city, I know what it looks like. There's less traffic, for one thing.

And found ourselves, for our fancy occasion with our dearly-honored parents, at... the Elephant Bar! (well, at least it wasn't Denny's)
We did get candles in their desserts and sing to them. Does that make it better?

Sorry, parents, you deserve much better. I had no idea that shithole stripmall would be such an attraction to everyone else! It seemed like a good idea when I made the reservations?


Saturday my dad went off to a train party (raucous fun) and so my mother, my sister, my Hott Boyfriend, and I went to Alum Rock Park, where I spent many a day as a child. Alum Rock Park is the place where we had Day Camp and other events as Girl Scouts, visited the park and Youth Science Institute with our elementary schools, probably had a few birthday parties, etc. I spent a lot of time there since my mom was the organizer of several such events and as such, my entire family would be there. My grandfather got poison oak in his eye one year at Girl Scout camp, when he was the leader of the boy's unit. We would put watermelons in the creek to keep them cold for the afternoon. We would keep our old shoes with holes in them and go creekwalking, letting the algea and waterspiders squish around between our legs and toes. At the YSI, we'd visit owls and snakes, and if they had time, they'd gather the kids in a large circle and let a ferret out in the middle for us to see. I remember evacuating a few troops of girls out of the playground at the YSI area once when a mountain lion came down near the playground. And of course the many times we'd stick our heads into the mineral springs and baths to wrinkle our noses and imagine why in the heck some people thought it would be a good idea to drink it or soak in it.

It's a wonderful place, in short. And I hadn't been back as an adult.

We got sandwiches and had a little picnic with a red robin, some blue jays, several squirrels, and some sort of heron or crane. Then we went for a little hike, which turned into a somewhat decent hike when we decided to go up to the South Rim trail. I think it must have been about 3 miles, the first being a switchback ascent, followed by a beautiful view over the canyon and into the San Jose valley. There were many critters, including a lizard which had lost most of its tail, fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillars, a deer, and several birds of prey. The only downer to this trail was the outrageous amount of poison oak. I've never seen so much poison oak, with such healthy leaves. It had completely taken the trail, such that you had to wiggle under and around it to avoid it.

We felt quite pleased with our hike and finished Saturday night at the Rockbottom Brewery, where some waiter insulted me by describing a beer as being IPA-like (it wasn't, it was more like a Belgian) and taking five minutes to warn me how strong it was. What. Ever. Bring me the damn beer, bubba. At some point I started talking about elephants and Paul tried to take my beer away. Feh. Anyway, it was like a poor interpretation of a Belgian, and just really not all that.

We came home and found that my dad's train party had not landed him a night in the slammer, and shared some port and chocolate.

It is so nice to have my sister around now. Where she used to always scurry off after whatever planned activity had brought her, she now gets to hang out and do fun stuff with us, or boring stuff, as it sometimes may be. I really enjoy her company. I'm so happy for her!

Sunday morning we jump started Paul's bike off of mine and made it back to Berkeley just in time to meet up with Paul's mom for breakfast (breakfast #2 at this point) She had to hurry off to prepare for some great adventure. So we took advantage of the afternoon to hike down to "downtown" Berkeley. Fortunately, there is a restaurant called "Downtown" there so you know when you're "downtown." After some beer and Irish food (?) at Becketts, we finally saw Pan's Labrynth before heading home. Dark movie. I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, Monday had to come, and ruin everything. Feh.

This coming weekend, we will probably go to the hillclimbs at Carnegie. Dusty Beers!

ooh! Microsoft finally did something I like!

This asirra thingie is for determining if a user is human. It involves cute doggies and kitties, and you can even find out how to adopt them while you are at it!


Did I mention CUTE DOGGIES AND KITTIES?!?!

I often fail at those "are you human" tests myself, where they ask you to type in the letters and numbers you see, but they are skewed, and I screw it up like 25% of the time.

Cool!

No Backsies!

WTF, is this 4th Grade?

Fielding said the two would speak to lawmakers in private and not under oath. He indicated he was not prepared to negotiate in the matter.

So the sticking point is that Bushco demands they not be under oath?!?!
So, what, they can just cross their fingers behind their backs?

Isn't requesting that something said not be "under oath" pretty much the same as saying beforehand that you plan to lie through your teeth?

I mean, not that anyone in this administration would ever do that.

The Renters are Coming! Hide Yer Wimmins!

More stupid people!

The couple bought in 2002, as the boom was beginning. At its peak, the house was worth more than three times what they paid for it. But they refinanced and took cash out to do upgrades on the house, and then they refinanced again because — well, Quinlan isn't sure why.

She's learned this about lenders and loan agents: "They make it look like they are trying to do all this for you, but the reality is that it was mainly for them. They got their chunks out of you, and then they put you out to the wolves."

now I understand why we should bail these "homeowners" out-- how were they to know that nice loan shark was out to make money off of them? He seemed like such a nice guy! You mean he wasn't really just cold-calling because he cared about my self interests?!?! You mean *I* was supposed to read those forms, that, um, well, *I* signed?!?!

Wait, this gets better:

At the top of his street, next to the charred shell of a house that mysteriously burned a few months ago, is a house for sale. The house immediately next door is on the market too. A few doors away from De Leon's home in the other direction is a third house looking for a buyer. Some owners are trying to rent their places out, advertising with little signs on the front lawn.

De Leon fears what will become of his neighborhood if it becomes dominated by renters.

"You get people who don't care about the neighborhood and don't take pride in it," he says.

He's hardly alone in that view.

"If people start to rent, that's when you start to worry," says De Leon's next-door neighbor, Jose Serrano.

Serrano, 34, grew up in Long Beach. He saw friends die in Long Beach. He still commutes there every day to work on the docks for Toyota Motor Corp. It's an hour in the morning and two hours coming home, a grind he suffers for the sake of his three young kids.

Oh, so the following people are good for the neighborhood:

• People who commit mortgage fraud (Not enough income? Just "State" it!3)
• Gamblers (I'll take out the most loan I can't really even afford, since this house will triple in value in two years!)
• People so totally irresponsible that they lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity
• People who "mysteriously" burn their house down
• People who forsake time with their kids for the ability to "own" their homes. (3 hours/day is 750 hours/year! 31 days you could have spent some other way?)
• People who don't repay debts ("you are in default")
  
• People who rent money from the bank to "own" homes.

The following people are BAD for the neighborhood:

• People who rent houses from people

Keep an eye out for those bastards. Once they start moving in... there goes the neighborhood!

Worst. President. Ever.

Instead, Sampson wrote, "we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. attorneys -- the underperforming ones. ... The vast majority of U.S. attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc."

I know, they haven't named Bush in this, and they probably never will. This administration always has a fall guy to blame and fire. Bush never does anything. Somehow he just sits in the middle of all of these scandals (real, constitution-abuse scandals) and shrugs. It was someone else on his staff, never him. Are they so totally out of his control? Is he that clueless? No, he's either at the center of all of this, or he's a puppet in a way I can't even imagine.

Makes me nostalgic for Presidents who get blow jobs and then lie about it. Were we really so upset then? How sweet.

San Jose

San Jose "then" and "Now" photos.

Sheesh, and I'm already old enough to remember some of these "used-ta-be's!"

No. Just NO.

U.S. homeowners with subprime mortgages struggling under payments need federal government help to ease them through the crisis, a leading consumer advocacy group said on Wednesday.

EXCUSE ME?!?!?!
So people who saw nothing but greed and financial irresponsibility now are in line for BAILOUTS?

The group, which represents hundreds of low-income housing advocates across the country, said Congress should immediately step in to aid subprime borrowers.

Wait a minute. Two years ago, when these same people stretched themselves out, took out irresponsible loans, and said "housing only goes up," they were not looking to share their profits with the rest of us. Why in the hell are they entitled to shove their losses on us then?

Oh, yeah, it's called "privatize profits, socialize losses."

As I understand it, these same greedy "housing always goes up, I'm making tons of money doing nothing by buying a house" (and by "buying," they really mean "renting money from the bank to live here") are now crying about the downside of their risks? And the gubmint is supposed to bail them out? So WE should pay for their poor gambling mistake? Let me see... so it follows, that if it had gone the other way, and they had made money, they would have happily given that money to the rest of us, right? I mean, they wouldn't ask for us to pay their downside, if they weren't willing to give away their profits too, right?

I will be absolutely outraged if we have to pay for these idiots, and thereby prop up home prices to keep financially responsible people out, by subsidizing the gamblers. I'm offended that it's even up for discussion.

You gamble, you lose, you pay.

Home ownership is something you save for, and do responsibly. In the past few years, it has turned into an "investment" vehicle for the masses who were unwiling to consider the long-term reality and fundamentals. Guess what? "Investments" sometimes go up, and sometimes go down. Don't play if you aren't willing to pay. Now it's time to pay.

Bailing these idiots out punishes the financially responsible, by wasting their taxes and artificially propping up home prices instead of letting them fall to levels in line with fundamentals.

Ugh.

Won't someone think of the children?!?!??!

Are you concerned about this?!?!

YOU SHOULD BE.

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the unstable radical Hydroxide, the components of which are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.

Well, color me shocked!

"The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday."

This is so surprising!
Although, I think the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act stinks so much, that even "legal" use of it is wrong, wrong, wrong, and illegal, in many cases.

"The American Civil Liberties Union said the audit proves Congress must amend the Patriot Act to require judicial approval anytime the FBI wants access to sensitive personal information. "The Attorney General and the FBI are part of the problem and they cannot be trusted to be part of the solution," said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU's executive director."

I know, the ACLU is so evil. They want a judge to be involved in, you know, making judgement calls and interpreting law. Wait, remind me again what it is judges are for?



Now, this is not tin-foil hat news for me. I sincerely doubt the FBI has spent much time tracking me. If they did, they would be very bored. "she ate pizza for dinner... again?!?!" "Look at this, boss! She bought $26 of groceries today!" (can they tell it's mostly beer?) "she's googled 'fancy pigeons' fifteen times this month! Is it a code for some terrorist cell operation?"

But this is so not OK. Are you all ACLU members yet? Wake up; this is important.

Dear Sportbike Rider

It would probably be better if you didn't wear such a puffy jacket, so you can actually see the fact that there is traffic piling up behind you. You know, through those shiny things that are sticking out above your handlebars?

Also, perhaps buying a Hayabusa, just so you could go slow while lanesplitting, was not such a good investment. It would be less embarrassing if you just rode a Hawk, and I could just write you off as someone's nervous girlfriend.

This time: vanity plate "DURBUSA"

You're freaking slow.
And you're an asshole for not checking your mirrors.

Mt. Whitney

need a permit to do this, and this year's permit lottery already happened:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml

It might be possible to pick up dates if there are any left, after April 1st.

Perhaps next year.

anyone?

In honor of my dad

I have no idea what this means:

You're the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Daring, risk-taking, and just the slightest bit dangerous, you
have a bold sense of adventure. Unfortunately, you don't really get an
opportunity to pursue real adventure, so you have to settle for the depths
of your imagination. It's a lively imagination, and one that captivates
countless people around you, but sometimes they tire of waiting for you. On
occasion, you've been known to say "Matterhorn Shmatterhorn".


Take the Trains and Railroads Quiz
at RMI Miniature Railroads.

Final

I just found out that someone I know (though not closely) killed himself over this weekend. I saw him a few weeks ago last, watched him play video games by James' bedside. We spoke quietly. I told him I was sorry to hear his mother had passed away. He said "thank you" under his breath while he kept entertaining James with the video games. Several months ago, he'd tinkered a little with my SV. Many nights we shared a little laugh here and there.

I had no idea that he was in such pain. I suppose no one did.

Sobering evening.

Just feels so FINAL. The words didn't even sound right. I expected to hear "got hit by a car," or, "his dad died," or, well, pretty much anything but those words that weren't meant to go together.

I wish I could all of you close tonight. Near and far, however infrequently we see each other, I love and value all of my friends and acquaintances, and, no, an answer this final and this wrong...

Makes me realize again tonight, how little we each know about the personal hell our loved ones are living in. I hope we can reach out into each other's hearts a little better, to fill the void, and stay afloat together.

Goodnight, J.

Seattle

This past weekend, Paul and I went up to Seattle to visit Maggie. My new neice is cute, I guess, but babies of this age aren't all that fun. I was sick, so I didn't, like hold the baby or anything. Mostly she just screamed and pooped and slept. I should have waited a few months if I wanted something more entertaining. Babies don't get interesting until they are a few months older, when they can actually interact. For now, she is a pooping and screaming machine, and she keeps Ben and Megan busy. They are quite possibly the most responsible and engaged parents I've ever seen.

So while they changed, bathed, fed, rocked, and gave bourbon to Maggie (just kidding about the last one, sort of), Paul and I walked around their new neighborhood a bit, and by around, I mean, straight to the pub, and then straight to the cupcake shop.

We screwed around with the cat, G, who is really a dog in kitty clothes.

We drank the beer, lots of it.

I felt a little better just in time to fly home. I just hope I did not get baby or parents sick.

But, but! Tulips ALWAYS go up!

And because I've been telling people about this, and often they just don't seem to believe me, yes. There was a Dutch tulip bubble.

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_17/b3678084.htm

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=469

Oh, I know, "It's different this time." It's always different this time.

Sleeping Dragon, Indeed!

Interesting NY Times article about the Chinese stock market, "slot machine," as they apparently call it:

“I don’t know how to choose a stock,” says a 61-year-old retiree who gave her name as Miss Hou at a local brokerage house a few weeks ago. “But I trust those technology companies. Maybe the names of some companies sound lucky to me, so I choose to buy these stocks.”

oh, my. This is worse than I thought. Maybe they are as stupid as we are?

Hmmm
Apparently, today, my type is this instead:
http://typelogic.com/enfp.html

I am ready for the Seventies now.

I'm Doomed

OK, so everyone knows about Gavin, right" Blah blah blah.

Who cares, right?

However, Gavin has decided to personally pay his (ex)friend's salary until he can get a new job. Oh, that's sweet. Nothing wrong with that.

Tourk is not talking to the press. His representative, Sam Singer, said that Newsom was following through on the commitment he made to Tourk, 35, who has a 3-year-old son. "Alex needs this assistance until he finds whatever he's going to do next. He has a son, a wife and a mortgage," Singer said. "He's highly respected and has many job offers right now, so it shouldn't take long."

Oh, Gavin's thinking of the kids. Don't want that three year old and wife to starve (well, maybe the wife, I mean she is a cheating skank wot outed her adultering partner for reasons I can only guess involve a need to stir shit up and get her name in the paper). 3 year olds eat a lot, and you gotta buy them new clothes all the time. And the mortgage. So how much does it cost to keep your (ex)friend's three year old off the street, Gavin?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has agreed to personally pay $15,000 per month to his former campaign manager, who abruptly quit last week after learning his wife had had an affair with Newsom.

Holy CRAP! $15-THOUSAND DOLLARS?!?!? A MONTH?!?!??! THAT is what it costs to have a small family in these parts?!?!?!?

I am doomed.


As a sidenote, I suspect that makes Ms. Ruby whatever her name is, one of the most expensive "ladies" in town.
I wonder what it costs to bang your buddy's wife in Crockett?

oh, my.

In looking at my sitemeter, I often find it interesting to see how random people found their way to my blog.
Last Friday, someone in Canada ran a google search on "how to firebomb someone apartment" which led them, apparently, to my post about my neighbor. Oh, my.

Well, sir or ma'am, in case you search again, please note that I do not recommend you do this. As noted if you read the entire article, they did catch the guy.

Impossible

I recognize that I need to be strong all the time, but lately, I keep thinking about my grandfather. I miss him terribly, and several times a day, wonder how the world could go on without him. It makes no sense. Of course the world goes on. Of course we fight back tears and move forward. But it doesn't seem possible, at all, that the world could hold itself up when the foundation falls away. Nothing really makes sense, but it appears to be going on around me, with or without him. Even that frustrates and worries me. I just can't imagine it, but there it is.

I guess I'm just extra emotional, these days.

Cry for your help

Dear friends and family,
As some of you know, I am currently working through the process of trying to figure out what I ought to do with my life. Again. (If this is news to you: I hate the place my career has taken me. If you're curious, I can explain more to you in detail)

Part of this process involves an inquiry into who I am, and what my true talents are. I have been thinking about it a great deal on my own, but I also think that sometimes we are not best poised to recognize our own talents (and weaknesses) objectively. Because of that, I am sincerely asking for the help of all those who know.

The world is wide open with opportunities and paths, and I'm trying to choose mine.

There's a difference between skills and talents. Skills, I can figure out pretty well: I have fabulous Illustrator skills; I lack cooking skills. That's easy. Talents are harder. I'm told I have a talent for writing; I think I have a talent for learning; I'm told I have a good voice for singing. I feel I lack the talent of negotiation and sales; I'm a really terrible dirtbike rider. Forcing these things, I could get better at them, but the natural talent is not there.

I'm asking now, if you have anything to add to my consideration, please take a moment to give me some input: Is there some talent, skill, or weakness you have seen in me that I might add to my inquiry into what path I might follow? Have you seen me do something better than others might have done it? It could be a practical, defined talent, or something sort of fuzzy and nebulous. Any input is appreciated.

If nothing springs to mind, please disregard this message. I'm not looking for forced answers or a stretch of your imagination. I just know that some of the people I know have a better objective look at me, and would like their valued input.


Thanks for reading, and thanks for helping

Credit whores

Hello Houston, we have a problem:

2006 Personal Savings Drop to 74-Yr. Low

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the savings rate for all of 2006 was a negative 1 percent, meaning that not only did people spend all the money they earned but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing to finance purchases. The 2006 figure was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005 and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Great Depression.

OK, this really bothers me. What the fuck are you people buying? What could be so important? Big screen TVs? Hermes handbags? The new iPod? Cable TV? All of this crap is more important to you than, oh personal and national security, retirement, responsibility?

Economists have put forward various reasons to explain the current lack of savings. These range from a feeling on the part of some people that they do not need to save because of the run-up in their investments such as homes and stock portfolios to an effort by many middle-class wage earners to maintain their current lifestyles even though their wage gains have been depressed by the effects of global competition.

Oh, I get it, you don't need to save, because your house is "worth" 5x what you paid for it (with your stated income, option-ARM loan, but details, schmetails!)

My savings rate is well, well into double digits, more than a little. OK, so my salary is low, so maybe a normal Bay Area salary would only have to save a few percent to keep up with me.

I don't have cable TV. I find the idea that I should PAY to watch TV, utterly ridiculous. TV is a waste of time anyway-- I will not pay for that. Hey, when I was a kid, cable TV didn't have commercials-- that's why you paid for it. Now? Um? Why should I pay to watch this crap? My television is the size of a large toaster, and it was given to me about ten years ago since I didn't have one at all. Again, why have a larger one? I don't want TV to be the focal point of my life, so why should it be the focal point of my living room?

I live in a place that's small and won't move until I can do so responsibly. Everyone who bought into "housing can only go up" is in for a rude awakening if they bought with an irresponsible financial plan. "I'll just pay interest-only and sell it in two years for a profit" is not a financial plan. It's called speculation, and you will get burned. Median incomes haven't gone up much, what makes you think there will be a greater fool to buy your overpriced specu-home? I mean, I'll be happy to buy it from the bank, later.

I rarely have the latest thing. I finally bought my bottom-of-the-line iBook (with a student discount) after like 8 years with the old Mac. That's a dinosaur, considering I do use it for graphics and all. I will ride my motorcycles into the ground and then buy again and repeat. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a conversation with some dingus that is trying to keep the miles off of their zooty new bike so the value doesn't go down. Hey, dumbass, how about buying a bike you like, that you will ride for a while, instead of trying to turn it over and buy the latest one every year? Bikes don't retain much value anyway. STUPID.

I have a credit card, which I use frequently. Most people would tell you to look for a low rate card, but I could give a shit. Who cares what the rate is when you pay it off every month? Paying interest on crap you bought is stupid. You should only pay interest on important purchases (education, a solid home purchase, maybe a car), not clothes you've already gotten tired of and gadgets that are already broken and outdated by the time the bill comes. Anyone paying the minimum due on a credit card is an idiot. You are making some rich guy richer, at a great detriment to yourself. Congratulations. Enjoy the big-screen TV. Remember how you got such a screaming deal on it before Christmas? Guess what, you're going to pay three times that amount in interest. Yay.


Why this upsets me is that our central bank and other guv'mint institutions are, I have little doubt, going to try to bail your sorry asses out come judgement day. Did you lie on your mortgage form about your income and sign up for a loan you didn't bother to understand? Oh, POOR YOU! Did you use this funny money to drive up home prices to the point where responsible people couldn't buy homes? Did you use that extra "equity" to buy an SUV or a trip to Maui? BOO FUCKING HOO. Are you now complaining about gas prices? Get a bicycle! Live responsibly for once, buy what you can afford. No, buy LESS than you can afford. If you feel that savings bothers you, give the extra to charity. Please for the love of god, sock it away for your retirement, cuz I do not want to pay for your sorry, freeloading ass.

Whatever the reason for the low savings, economists warn that it the phenomenon exists at a particularly bad time with 78 million baby boomers approaching retirement age. Instead of building up savings to use during retirement, baby boomers are continuing to spend all their earnings.

Boomers are only a few years from retirement. What the hell are they thinking? Instead of healthcare and security in their golden years, they would like to have some crap from Chinamart? A Precious Moments figurine collection, a surround-sound stereo, a breadmaker machine, a BMW... oh, and: Why on earth are kids this age even driving BMWs and Lexuses?

(01-30) 10:30 PST PETALUMA -- A 24-year-old Petaluma man is in the hospital with major injuries after a fight Monday afternoon involving two couples, a car chase, a baseball bat and, finally, a car crash.

The incident began shortly before 4 p.m., when two Petaluma women, a 17-year-old and a 22-year-old, got into a physical fight on the 400 block of Ely Boulevard South, Petaluma police Sgt. Matthew Stapleton said. Police are not naming the women.

The 22-year-old left the scene of the fight in a BMW sedan, closely followed by the 17-year-old, who was driving a Lexus sedan.

What is wrong with you people? Spending money does not make you cool. Keeping up with the Joneses just means you are constantly one step behind them anyway. Did you ever stop to think maybe the Joneses have more money than you? Or perhaps that they are also destroying their own lives with credit abuse? Hope you and the Joneses repay your debt all the way to the poorhouse together.

PUT THE CREDIT CARDS DOWN, PEOPLE! YOUR HOUSE IS NOT AN INVESTMENT. A FLASHY CAR IS NOT WORTH YOUR RETIREMENT FUND.

And get the hell off my lawn.

tribe

I've detoxed from tribe.net for a few weeks. I realized I was arguing with people I thought were stupid, about things I don't really care about.

That makes *me* stupid.

Besides, I'm busy these days.
I'm back to studying the putong hua again, and spending any other "free" time doing a structured exploration of what the heck I want to do with my life.

I know I do not want to do this any more.
I really just want to work with intelligent, nice people, in a place where I'm challenged and constantly learning, and problem-solving with visible results of my hard work and brainpower.

There, that was easy.

Oh, yeah, boatloads of money and a company car (which I'll promptly crash since I don't know how to drive) would be nifty too. And a free pen with the company logo.

I know I ride a girls bike, but...

I got stuck behind an Aprilia on the bridge this morning. Another SV650 got stuck behind us. When we finally passed by going a few lanes over, the Aprilia rider finally found the gear shifter and decided to race. That's a lot money to spend on being so slow and stupid.

Maybe he didn't want to speed up until he was on land near a dealership, lest one of his parts fall off?

Roommates

I got bogged down.
The Epiphany party was great. The next day Charles came over and we made baby blankets. All was spectacular.
Monday night, I was awoken by my noisy neighbors around 1am.
Not a big deal, but then the rustling in the kitchen. Yes, I do indeed have a roommate.

I knew it a few weeks before. Around 5am one morning, too much rustling of plastic bags or something... too much to be just the wind or something I stacked poorly.
I told myself maybe there was a mouse. I imagined my mouse was cute, shiny, full-coated, with long eyelashes and a charming smile.

But at 1am, with the kitchen trash roughly 5 feet from my head, I couldn't ignore it.
My thought was that if I turned the light on, threw some crap into the kitchen, waited a few minutes, my roommate would go away, not wanting to come face-to-face.

Then I went and wahsed a few dishes. Washing dishes calms me, and I decided that after I finished, I'd go back to sleep. And I was calmed, and as I put the last pot onto the dish dryer rack, my roomate scurried from the refrigerator across to the other corner, just where I could see him. I even yelped a little bit, but quietly, so as not to wake the (paying) neighbors. Now I was wide awake. And if that wasn't bad enough, my rommate whacked into the wall (clutz!) and then proceeded to rustle around rahter loudly for a minute or two. Sheesh! Just shut the hell up already, noisy little bastard!

I called Paul and was at his house within a half an hour, around 2am-something.

Long story short is that the roomate is not a problem, at least not in my apartment, anymore. We locked it out. Apparently, the building and block are infested, and my apartment managers have been fighting them valiently. They'll be gone soon. But at least it's not my problem any more.

I mean, it's not that I have anything against Rats, I just don't want them in my house.

Those darn neighbors!

It's really my fault that I found my neighbors on a porn site. I mean, if they allow you to sort the models by geographic area, that's pretty much just asking for it, right?

I didn't need to see that, but I do recognize that it's nobody's fault but mine.

Should I start calling them by their porn names?

These are the People in Your Neighborhood

This guy used to live in my apartment building.
I would see him daily sweeping in the hallway and foyer.
I always thought he was a little weird, but it wasn't until the fire on the floor above me that I found out how weird he was, more importantly, WHO he was...

what's not mentioned in this article is that the whole Bush St. apartment thing came to light when one night in the wee hours, the fire alarm went off, which, in a large building like mine, happens more often than it should, and frequently just because of bored teenagers. Expecting to be greeted once again by a lot of people coming out in their PJ's to a non-event followed by a return to bed, I threw on some clothes, opened my door, and was greeted by smoke. But not a lot of heat, or flames, or anything of that nature. So I investigated. Went up one floor and there, on the floor in front of the apartment one floor up and on the opposite side of the hallway (this doorway would face me if I were on the 3rd floor instead of the 2nd) was a bottle, like a wine bottle, with smoke coming out. The door it sat in front of was charred black (burned, not smoked) but not on fire. Most importantly, the sprinkler system was going off. WHOA! and DAMN! Because a.) someone set this fire, and b.) the sprinklers were destroying the building.

I ran down and scurried to remove anything that was in that area of my apartment. the water was gushing in from the ceiling. In the hallway, the rectangle slats of the ceiling were disintegrating and bursting out. Firemen finally rushed in to do whatever they do when there isn't really a fire anymore. The water gushed through even to the floor below me. In the end, they had to rip out the bathroom and redo it, and the hallway carpets, and do this thing where they drilled a bunch of holes in the walls and used some machines to dry them out on all three floors.

Creepy?

a day or so later, the fire department or police department ( I can't remember now) called me to find out what I had seen. I told them, and asked if they found anyone. they told me they were investigating to find out what caused the fire. I was like, "um, maybe the firebomb someone planted in front of that door?!?"

The following Thursday I came home from visiting a friend at SFMC to find a big white van double parked in front of my building. The white van had a wide black stripe on it, with big white block letters
"BOMB SQUAD"
As I walked up the stairs, I could see men carrying out assloads of stuff and some computers.
I turned around and went back to SFMC for a bit.

The next day I asked my apartment manager what was going on, as this was starting to make me feel uneasy at home. He told me that there was an investigation to see how the fire started. I told him I saw what started it. I asked him why the bomb squad was there last night. He told me the bomb squad had not been there, but there were detectives. I felt like I was being lied to. Maybe the DETECTIVE car was out of gas, so they borrowed the BOMB SQUAD van? The funny thing was, my apartment manager (who was always kind of a dick) started going on this tirade about "this is what happens when people let people into the building." He was stuck on the idea that non-residents were getting let in all the time. Ironically, HE was the one that rented to this guy.

A few days later, one of my coworkers mentioned she saw an article about a fire, and showed it to me. I still have it somewhere. Yes, that's my building! Holy SHIT, that's the weird creepy guy I see in the hallway all the time. OMFG, that's the guy who burnt his son! Even *I* remember that, and I was like 6 years old when that was news. If it weren't for Jamie catching that in the paper, I would never know what happened in my building.

So, what's not mentioned in the article below, about the Bush St building, is that he (or, someone else, I guess they never proved it?) set a little firebomb in front of the door of a couple of girls he had been stalking. He was also charged with, as I recall, some sort of breaking and entering and stealing debit and credit cards from some of the apartments. I guess none of that ever went anywhere, but they did find a gun and a bunch of ammo on my nutjob psychotic creepyman neighbor. And that during his time at Bush St, he had been working at an IHOP in (I think) North Beach or Marina or somewhere, and carrying a picture of his son (pre-burn, I assume) and telling coworkers that his son died of leukemia.

And so here's to Charley Charles...


from sfgate

Man who burned son could get life
Court says he had 3 strikes, orders new sentencing hearing

A man who tried to burn his 6-year-old son to death in 1983 is eligible for a life sentence under the three-strikes law for two weapons convictions in San Francisco, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

Charley Charles will get one more chance to persuade a San Francisco Superior Court judge to set aside one of his past convictions and sentence him to less than the three-strikes term of 25 years to life. But the First District Court of Appeal agreed with prosecutors Thursday that the judge was wrong when she ruled last year that she had no authority to sentence Charles as a third-striker.

Charles, now 66, was known as Charles Rothenberg when, after a custody dispute with his wife, he took his son to an Orange County motel, gave him at least one sleeping pill, doused him with kerosene and set him on fire. The boy survived but was badly disfigured and had part of his fingers amputated. The father was convicted of attempted murder and arson and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

He was released in 1990 after serving half his sentence, was paroled to Oakland and later moved to San Francisco. After another arrest and a final jailhouse meeting with his son -- who, according to a statement he released, told Rothenberg he was an impostor and not the youth's father -- Rothenberg changed his name to Charley Charles in 1998. He also bought a handgun, which he said he needed for protection after someone shot at him on Market Street in 1995.

Charles was arrested in June 2001 and charged with being a felon in possession of the handgun as well as 44 rounds of ammunition, which police found in a fanny-pack in his Bush Street apartment. He was convicted of both charges, and has also been charged with credit card fraud and with making telephone threats from jail in 2005 to the prosecutor in the weapons case.

Under the 1994 three-strikes law, Charles faced a potential life sentence for the weapons convictions because of his two 1983 convictions. But Superior Court Judge Cynthia Lee ruled in April 2005 that Charles' arson and attempted murder convictions had to be considered only one strike because they arose from the same act.

Saying the three-strikes law was made for someone like Charles, Lee nevertheless sentenced him as a second-striker to seven years and four months in prison.

In Thursday's ruling, however, the appeals court said Charles' 1983 convictions were both strikes because they involved multiple acts -- taking his son to the motel, giving him a sleeping pill, attempting to murder him and setting fire to the motel -- and multiple victims: his son and the motel owner.

Rather than imposing a 25-years-to-life sentence, the court ordered another sentencing hearing to let Lee decide whether to dismiss one of the strikes.

Does this bike make my bike look fat?

When I set out looking for the SV, I loudly complained that everyone was trying to jack their prices and list all the great mods they'd done. "I just want a stock bike," I insisted.

Well, it was true.
I didn't want to pay for the most common mods, like carbon fiber widgets and expensive exhaust crap.

So, after Christmas, which brought me a few more doohickeys for the SV, I am now astounded at how my bike got so bloated with aftermarket bling.

1.) lowered seat (came with the bike from previous owner. Nice, but my knees are a bit cramped. But with the stock seat I *may* have tip-toe issues.)
2.) Some front springs I already forgot about (came with the bike from previous owner)
3.) Tank bra. I don't know why. It seemed like a good idea at the time?
4.) Suzuki windscreen (replacing the cute but not-good-for-distance aftermarkt flyscreen that came with the bike from the previous owner)
5.) Heated vest plug. Well, duh. I'm not a sucker, are you a sucker?
6.) Used gixxer shock. This is nice. Phil from Aftershocks does good stuff. He also serviced the front, but no *bling* added there.
7.) Renthal bars. Wait, they are renthal, right? This is because I actually bent two other pairs of bars: the stock ones, and the ones Paul gave me since I bent the stock ones.
8.) Barkbusters. Silly, but cute.
9.) Loud horn. this rocks, except when it doesn't. When it works, it's loud and great. But often iot doesn't work at all. feh. And they're mounted up front where they look like big red earrings. Or else, maybe I'm crazy.
10.) Scottoiler. I am teh lazy. And having no garage or center stand, chain maintanence was getting sorely neglected.
11.) Headlight modulator. Yay!
12.) Center stand. Paul says this will make changing the tires easier. Does that mean my mimosa will pour itself?
13.) Givi rack and ginormous topcase. I literally can't see around the thing one one side. But I can go grocery shopping! And bring home all that wine I bought last time I went drinking, er, I mean, wine tasting, with my dad!
14.) I've just been reminded that I also have frame sliders. These are a necessity, what with the SV's crashiness, and all. I bought them at MotoJava, can't remeber the brand, but I have tested them, and they help a LOT.


but god forbid it should ever fall over. I think I need to install some sort of scissor-lift lever thingie on the side(s). that would be cool.

Critter...

...is now Margaret Caroline Turner
11:49 pm, January 3rd, 2007
She weighed 8 pounds, 1.7 ounces
measured 19.5 inches long

I know nothing about babies, but my mom tells me that's sort of big-ish.
Congratulations Ben & Megan! Now mom can stop hassling me for grandchildren!

I'm an Ayi!

I will now start collecting for her ribbon allowance & cedar chest.

jouYour Type is
ENFJ
Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Judging
Strength of the preferences %
67 50 25 33

http://keirsey.com/personality/nfej.html
http://typelogic.com/enfj.html